• On one front, congratulations are due the Spanoses and Ron Wolf. They found the Chargers a quarterback whisperer who is helping the franchise's No. 1 asset, Philip Rivers, evolve on the back nine of his career. The talent-thin Chargers are a dangerous team largely because of Rivers and other playmakers within a high-IQ offense.

• Make no mistake: Norv Turner and Rivers were a winning combination for several years. The progress Rivers is showing -- which seems more evolution than rejuvenation -- doesn't necessarily owe to one coach being better.

• But this is clear: Mike McCoy and his coaches have given Rivers, 31, helpful tools to succeed in his 10th NFL season. As a result, Rivers no longer must envy Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

• The tools are: 1) a quick-pass scheme that McCoy's staff installed as the offense's core, rather than a situational feature, 2) faster play calls as a result of eliminating the backup quarterback as a middleman, 3) more leeway to call or change plays at the line of scrimmage (one player, when asked to compare pre-McCoy and now, confirmed this to be true), 4) more opportunity to speed up the tempo between plays, sometimes without huddling.

• McCoy said many features of this offense worked in his previous two NFL jobs with passer Jake Delhomme (Panthers) and Manning (Broncos). The man who hired McCoy here, Tom Telesco, is a former Colts scout and exec who saw Manning flourish with audible freedom, quick passes and change-of-tempo.

• But the teaching of Rivers goes beyond McCoy. Two of the assistants he hired, Ken Whisenhunt and Frank Reich, are steeped in quick-passing attacks. As a bonus, Reich, a former backup to Jim Kelly in Buffalo's famed no-huddle offenses, is the first ex-NFL quarterback who is Rivers' position coach.

• An eager student, Rivers pestered Reich even after work hours, calling him or texting him late at night last spring and this summer. "He was always a day or two ahead," McCoy said Monday.

• He learned fast. Against the Eagles in Week Two, Rivers did far more audibling than typical for his career. "They put the game in his hands," Eagles coach Chip Kelly said after Rivers led the Chargers to a 33-30 victory. Told of Kelly's comment, Whisenhunt said, "If he wants to think that, that's fine."

• After the Week Two win, when asked the last time his quarterback ran so many audibles, Whisenhunt said, "Does the name Kurt Warner ring a bell?" Warner led Whisenhunt's Cardinals to the Super Bowl in the 2008 season and retired after the 2009 season. Whisenhunt said he also granted similar leeway to Ben Roethlisberger.

• From snap to release, the ball was out, on average, in just 2.14 seconds. Consider that many NFL coaches consider 2.5 to be fast. In some training camps, a 2.5-second alarm sounds during three-step pass plays.

• Rivers threw 43 passes Sunday, including one nullified by a penalty. On 84 percent of those throws, the ball was out in 2.5 seconds or less.

• The Cowboys won on several pass-rushes against Chargers blockers--but when they reached Rivers, the ball was in the air, on target and thrown with touch. An open receiver usually was on the other end. The two notable exceptions were tackle Justin Hatcher hitting Rivers in 2.3 seconds, causing a pick-6; and end George Selvie notching a 2.1-second sack, after Nick Hardwick snapped the ball early, making D.J. Fluker a beat late.

• Seldom if ever, though, has Rivers ripped a defense so fast so often.

• Clockings on nine Antonio Gates catches, good for 80 yards, averaged a swift 1.98. Most of those gains came between the numbers, against simple, soft zone coverage. Then came the knockout blow: Gates ran downfield against Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee. The ball was out in 2.8 seconds--on target -- and Gates gathered it for a 56-yard, decisive TD.

• Whether McCoy will handle all of the other tasks well remains to be seen. The recommendation here after Week One was for him to ensure Rivers stop pestering the refs so much. That didn't happen; in Week Three, Rivers' personal foul, coming after repeated warnings from the refs to cool it, seemed a factor in the narrow road defeat.

• If McCoy could've been more bold attacking the Titans, it was encouraging to hear him say Monday he was resolved against Dallas to sustain the offense's attack mode. McCoy said the offense's mentality is: "We've been stopping ourselves. No one's stopped us." Results back up the boast, save the two pick-6s. Through four games, Rivers is on pace to set career marks in TDs, fewest interceptions and lowest sack percentage. His completion rate, 73.9 percent, is 10 points above his career norm.

• The offensive line is improved from last year -- or was until the recent spate of injuries that started with Chad Rinehart's departure in the first half of the third game. While Telesco's signing of Danny Woodhead has given Rivers a Sproles-like piece to create mismatches, Rivers is also thriving without his top two split ends in Danario Alexander and Malcom Floyd.

• Philip Rivers, at the season's quarter mark, has played better than any other QB not named Peyton. Had Dean Spanos hired McCoy a year earlier, one wonders: would Rivers be even further along?